Announcements and Updates

Advisors check below for critical news and updates from Arizona MESA. Each message has also been sent via email. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at 520.626.2300 or azmesa@email.arizona.edu. Don't forget to check out our calendar for upcoming events and our Facebook Page and Twitter Feed for resources, non-MESA events, and other STEM information.

Central Region Design Day is Saturday, February 10. Visit the Design Day Page for more information.

Southern Region Design Day is Saturday, February 17. Visit the Design Day Page for more information.

Regional Design Day registration is now open. Visit http://azmesa.arizona.edu/RegionalReg to register your school. Registrations are due one week prior to the event.
Please remember that you can have up to three teams for each design challenge at regionals. Regional events provide an opportunity for students to test their designs in competition like settings, ability to collect crucial data about their designs, and gain valuable feedback from judges. If your teams are not ready to participate they should still attend to observe other teams and the testing conditions. We will make every attempt to make testing conditions as similar as possible at both regional events and MESA Day.

Student Information Forms will be collected at the Regional Design Days. Please make sure that they are legible, complete, and have both the parent and student signature to avoid delays in processing.

As the semester comes to a close we would like to remind everyone to complete the Advisor Status Report. We want to know more about the MESA activities at your school and will be compiling this information and providing your administrators with a mid-year report on activities in MESA across the state and at your school. The form can be found at http://azmesa.arizona.edu/advisor_update and is also available on the Educators page on the website.

This will also help us as we continue to looks for additional resources to support your efforts at the schools. We will be able to identify the greatest areas of need and focus our efforts on those areas.

We also wat to acquire a better sense of how many teams we may have participating in the National Competition, where teams are in the process, and what needs they have. We are especially interested in what Arduino hardware needs teams may have so that we can assess how much assistance our office can provide. If you have a team pursuing or considering pursuing the National Competition please send us an email with the following information.

1. A brief description of the client(s) your team is researching

2. The clients’ needs that have been identified

3. Which need(s) your team has chosen to design a solution for

4. Initial design ideas, including the role of Arduino within that solution

5. List of Arduino hardware needs is order from most needed to least needed. If you have identified a source and price include that as well.

We are reaching out to acquire a better sense of how many teams we may have participating in the National Competition, where teams are in the process, and what needs they have. We are especially interested in what Arduino hardware needs teams may have so that we can assess how much assistance our office can provide. If you have a team pursuing or considering pursuing the National Competition please send us an email with the following information.

A brief description of the client(s) your team is researching

The clients’ needs that have been identified

Which need(s) your team has chosen to design a solution for

Initial design ideas, including the role of Arduino within that solution

List of Arduino hardware needs is order from most needed to least needed. If you have identified a source and price include that as well.

We will review this information and follow up with teams before the end of the semester.

Additionally, we are looking at different scenarios for MESA Day depending on how many teams we have. Please let us know which of the following National Competition components you feel your team will be most likely to complete with their best work before MESA Day.

We have a date for our Human Centered Design Webinar. Arizona MESA invites you to join us on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm for a webinar on Human Centered Design presented by our colleague, Tamara DePue, from Oregon MESA. You will have the option to either join from your own computer/device or join a group of advisors at a site in Tucson or Phoenix. We need at least 5 folks interested in attending a site to host. To RSVP please complete the form at http://azmesa.arizona.edu/HCD2017. RSVP deadline is Friday, November 24, 2017.

How is it already November? We hope that things have been going well for you all and we want to know more about the MESA activities at your school. So, we are asking everyone to complete the Advisor Status Report at least once per semester but preferably once a quarter. The form can be found at http://azmesa.arizona.edu/advisor_update and is also available on the Educators page on the website.

We will use this information to generate a report that will be sent to you and your administrator’s early next semester and at least once more in the spring. We will include a snapshot of MESA statewide and a snapshot of activity at your school, so it is critical that we receive your information in order to provide your administrator with an accurate picture of activity at your school.

Also, we recently found out that our contact at GCU, Amanda Hughens, has left the university. We will be meeting with her replacement next week and will send out contact information to you soon. In the meantime if you have any questions or needs feel free to contact the state office at 520.626.2300 or azmesa@email.arizona.edu.

Please share the following link with your seniors. Students can receive up to $4000/year for college just by completing a few steps and saving $500 over the next year. However, the deadline to submit the pre-application is in two weeks on Wednesday, November 8. Additionally, after submitting the application students must complete an on-line financial literacy class by Friday, December 1. For more information click on the link below.

Arizona MESA will be providing 4 pieces of 10 foot x half-inch schedule 40 PVC for those that submitted payment for the full program, MATI, or for the STEM kit. We are asking you to request this item when you are ready and we will be able to order it on-line at Home Depot or Lowe’s for pick-up at your local store. We are suggesting that you wait to request the PVC until you have a team that has researched, designed, and tested a small scale bridge that they feel is a good option for a full scale model. This is a great way to re-inforce the Engineering Design Process and use of the notebook by asking to see research, data, and design sketches in order to request PVC to build.

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us at MATI this past weekend. For those of you that were not able to attend here are some updates that were shared.

Grand Canyon University is the new MESA Center supporting school in the Central Region! – Arizona MESA is working with GCU to finalize a partnership that establish GCU as the MESA center supporting MESA schools in Metro Phoenix and the surrounding areas. They will take the lead in providing expanded opportunities for growth, mentor recruit, and volunteer recruitment. Amanda Hughens will be your primary contact for regional questions when working with GCU and you can contact her at Amanda.Hughens@gcu.edu with any questions. More details will follow and the partnership is finalized.

New Announcements and Updates page! – A new page has been placed on the Arizona MESA website that will list all important announcements that are sent via email. Visit the page at http://azmesa.arizona.edu/Updates.

Remind App - MESA will continue to use the Remind messaging app to notify advisors about important information that is sent. To sign-up go text @mesalist to 81010.

Advisors Facebook Group – there is a closed group on Facebook for Advisors to share information, resources, and teaching levity. If you are interested you can request to join by visiting Facebook.com/groups/AZMESAadvisors

Student Information Form – This is the official enrollment for students. The complete, signed form must be submitted to MESA before student’s can participate in MESA events. This form provides us with important statistical information and serves as a photo and record release. It is ready and available for download on the Arizona MESA Site. It is also attached.

Advisors Handbook – The Advisor’s Handbook has been updated and now includes a sample safety contract and sample club constitution and by-laws.

MESA Day date change - Due to a lack of available facilities on April 28, we are looking at hosting MESA Day at GCU on April 21. We are currently working with GCU to confirm April 21 as the new date for MESA Day.

MESA Day Specifications - Arizona MESA is happy to announce that the MESA Day page has been updated and that the specifications for this year’s challenges are ready to view. Please visit the MESA Day Page to see them. On this page you will find:

Design Challenge Specifications – these are the rules for this year’s challenges

Design Challenge Resources – under the rules are resources including lessons, activities, and videos to help you and your students

FAQ page – students that have questions about the specifications can submit questions to Arizona MESA via email (azmesa@email.arizona.edu) or by using the form on the website. Students should check the FAQ page first to see if the question has already been asked and answered.

You're invited to Asian/Pacific Islander Cultural College Day at the University of Arizona! Learn why being an Arizona Wildcat is an experience like no other - from world-class academics and research to a campus rich with history and tradition. Don't miss out!

Whether you're already committed to the UA or just looking, be sure to take advantage of Asian/Pacific Islander College Day. You'll have the opportunity to talk to current Asian/Pacific Islander students, staff, and faculty, who are happy to answer your questions.

We are excited to see everyone next weekend for the MESA Advisor Training Institute (MATI). We have some exciting sessions planned that we feel you will be able to use not only for MESA but in your classes as well. Here is the MATI Schedule of sessions.

One session has limited capacity. We are partnering with Xerocraft, a makerspace here in Tucson, and the Pima College Engineering Club to host a 2 hour session on Arduino. If you are interested in attending this session, you will need to sign up using the link below. We ask that, if you commit to this session, you also commit to having a team attempt the MESA USA National Engineering Competition this year. We are limiting the session to the first 20 people to sign up. The link is:

Thanks to those that have registered for our MESA Advisors Training Institute on September 8 and 9. I just wanted to send a quick reminder that the deadline to register for MATI is Wednesday, August 30. That’s only 8 days away. We have an exciting two days of professional development planned. We hope that you will be able to join us. Reminder, at this event we will also release the MESA Day 2018 Specifications. Be there to be the first to know about this year’s design challenges. See the attached flyer and registration form for more information. You can also register on-line at http://azmesa.arizona.edu/MATI.
Overnight accommodations will be provided for advisors from outside of the Tucson Metro area at no cost to the school.

Welcome back! We hope that you all feel ready for the start of the school year and are as excited as we are to start MESA this year. We know this is a busy time, so we will make this email brief. Below we have listed some crucial information that is needed to start the year. Note: All of the information below is also available on our updated Advisor webpage at http://azmesa.arizona.edu/advisors. Please bookmark this site as a useful reference point.

One important update is that due to increasing costs of programming we are increasing our fees this year. We have not raised prices since we began this model in the 2014-2015 school year and we have tried to keep this increase as low as possible. This year we are also providing an Early Brid discount. Please see the MOU for more information.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – Due September 8, 2017 for Early Bird pricing.
Please follow up with your administrator and submit the MOU (attached). This serves as your official school registration for MESA. If you are planning on attending MATI, payment will also be due by September 8. This document includes information on the new prices including the EARLY BIRD discount.

MESA Advisors Training Institute @ UA - Registration due August 30, 2017
We have an exciting two days of professional development planned. We hope that you will be able to join us. Reminder, at this event we will also release the MESA Day 2018 Specifications. Be there to be the first to know about this year’s design challenges. See the attached flyer and registration form for more information. You can also register on-line at http://azmesa.arizona.edu/MATI. Overnight accommodations will be provided for advisors from outside of the Tucson Metro area. Registration must be received by August 30 to guarantee these accommodations.

Advisor Contact Form - DUE ASAP. We need to update our records to ensure that we have the most current contact information for you.